Lake Trasimeno

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lake Trasimeno Lago Trasimeno

Location	Umbria, Italy
Coordinates	43°08′N 12°06′ECoordinates: 43°08′N 12°06′E
Basin countries	Italy
Surface area	128 km²
Average depth	6-7 m
Surface elevation	258 m
Islands	3 (Isola Polvese, Isola Maggiore, Isola Minore)

Lake Trasimeno or Trasimene (in Italian: Lago Trasimeno), is the largest lake in peninsular Italy with a surface area of 128 km², just slightly less than that of Lake Como. The River Tiber flows past some thirty kilometers to the east of the lake, but the lake and the river are separated by hills: no major river flows directly into nor out of Lake Trasimeno, and the water level fluctuates significantly according to rainfall levels and the seasonal demands from the small towns, villages and agricultural enterprises dotted round the shore.

Historically, Trasimeno was known as "the lake of Perugia" and this name makes it easy to understand the importance that the lake has always had for the whole of north-western Umbria and for the Tuscan Chiana district. A significant battle, the Battle of Lake Trasimeno, took place on the north shore of the lake in April 217 B.C. during the Second Punic War.

There are three islands in the lake. The second largest, Isola Maggiore, is the only inhabited one. The small fishing village, which reached its height in the 14th century, today has only around thirty residents. Most of the buildings, including the ruins of a Franciscan monastery, date from the 1300s.

Trasimeno has all the characteristics of a great natural resource that should be rigorously protected and promoted for purposes compatible with its preservation. The inhabitants of the communes around Trasimeno and the Umbrian people have all, despite a wealth of difficulties, been successful in safeguarding their lake, whose waters are constantly fit for swimming and whose valleys and islands are intact territorial environments, therefore providing a mirror of a millenary past and a theme for a present suited to discovering a new means for man to interrelate with his habitats.